ASH TRACK App:

• Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy launched a Web based monitoring System and a Fly Ash mobile application named ASH TRACK.
• The Platform will provide a better interface between fly ash producers (Thermal Power Plants) and potential ash users such as – road contractors, cement plants etc.
• Fly ash, the end product of combustion during the process of power generation in the coal based thermal power plants.
• It is a proven resource material for construction industries and currently is being utilized in manufacturing of Portland Cement, bricks/blocks/tiles manufacturing, road embankment construction and low-lying area development, etc.
• Now the usage of flyash stands at 63% and the aim is to raise to 100 %.

Operation Cactus

• In 1988 a group of Maldivians led by Abdullah Luthufi tried to overthrow then Maldivian Government.
• The attempt was a failure due to the intervention of the Indian Armed Forces.
• The operation was code named as Operation Cactus.
• INS Godavari and Betwa were used by the Indian Navy in the operation

ENCORE

• The Eastern Naval Command Operational Readiness Exercise (ENCORE), Theatre Level Readiness and Operational Exercise concluded on the Eastern Seaboard by the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force aircrafts.
• The exercise was conducted in phases to test various facets of war-fighting capabilities of the combat units.
• The exercise was conducted in real time covering a vast expanse of Indian Ocean Region (IOR)

Minmata Convention on mercury

• The Union Cabinet approved the proposal for ratification of Minamata Convention on Mercury.
• The Convention protects the most vulnerable from the harmful effects of mercury and also protects the developmental space of developing countries
• The objective of the convention’s implementation to protect human health and environment from the anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
• The Convention is named after the Japanese city Minamata, as the city went through a devastating incident of mercury poisoning.

International Conference on Unani Medicine

• Central Council for Research in Unani Medicine (CCRUM) under Ministry of Ayush is organizing a two-day ‘International Conference on Unani Medicine’ as part of celebration of National Unani Day (Feb 11)
• The theme of the conference is Integration of Unani System of Medicine in main stream healthcare.
• National Unani Day is celebrated to mark the contribution of Hakim Ajmal Khan, founder of Ayurvedic and Unani Tibbia (medical) College,Delhi.
• Hakim Ajmal Khan was an eminent Indian Unani physician who was versatile genius, freedom fighter, educationist and founder of scientific research in Unani Medicine.

Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana

• The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has launched the ‘RashtriyaVayoshri Yojana (RVY)’.
• Its objective is to provide senior citizens belonging to BPL category, who suffer from age related disabilities, with such physical aids and assisted living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily functions.
• The Scheme is entirely funded from the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund (SCWF).
• Under the Scheme, assisted living devices such as walking sticks, elbow crutches, walkers/ crutches, tripods/ quadpods, hearing aids, wheelchairs, artificial dentures, spectacles are distributed to the beneficiary senior citizen.

Kolleru lake:

• Kolleru lake is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the country.
• It is located between Krishna and Godavari delta.
• It was declared as a wildlife sanctury in 1999.
• It is a Ramsar site and is also listed as an Important Bird Area.
• The lake is known to amateur birdwatchers and professional ornithologists as a Pelicanery — a location were the Grey Pelicans, a large magnificent bird, nest and breed.
• Grey pelicans had vanished from the lake in 1973 for nearly 35 years and returned to it to nest again in December 2006.

CriSidEx:

• India’s First MSE Sentiment Index, has been launched by CRISIL and SIDBI.
• CriSidEx is a composite index based on a diffusion index of 8 parameters and measures MSE business sentiment on a scale of 0 (extremely negative) to 200 (extremely positive). CriSidEx will have 2 indices, one for the ‘survey quarter’ and another for the ‘next quarter’ once a trend emerges after few rounds of the survey, providing independent time series data.

Sal River:

• The third largest river in Goa, the Sal River is based in South Goa and starts in Cavelossim.
• It is one of the nine major rivers of Goa.
• The River measures 35 kilometers in length and has a basin size of 301 square kilometers.
• Being the only river that flows in a north-south direction prior to flowing in to the Arabian Sea at Betul, the Sal River is a geologically odd one because it runs parallel to the west of geological coast.